Rubella is a mild febrile rash illness caused by rubella virus. It is transmitted from person to person via droplets (the virus is present in throat secretions). It affects mainly, but not only, children and when pregnant women are infected, it may result in malformation of the foetus. Humans are the only reservoir of infection.
This report presents pooled COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness (VE) estimates for the first, second and third booster doses, against hospitalisation due to COVID-19 and COVID-19 related deaths in resident populations ≥50 years of age, living in the community.
Despite good access to effective antibiotics, Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococci) is still a major cause of disease and death in both developing and developed countries. Pneumococci are the main cause of bacterial respiratory tract infections, such as pneumonia, middle ear infection, and sinusitis, in all age groups.
Genetic and antigenic characterization data generated at the Worldwide Influenza Centre for viruses with collection dates after 31 January 2023 until 31 August 2023 informed the WHO influenza vaccine composition meeting (VCM) in September 2023 when recommendations were made for the southern hemisphere (SH) 2024 influenza season.